Looking back to school days 40 years ago we see fashions of the time.

Does this 1977 picture of a courtyard garden remind you of your days at Northgate School, Ipswich? Picture: JERRY TURNER

Flared trousers, wide lapels, long hair for boys, cooking lessons for girls and engineering for the boys. Stoke High School, on Maidenhall Approach, Ipswich, is now an Ormiston Academy.

When the photographs featured in today’s Days Gone By were taken in 1977 the school was new, having recently replaced the Tower Ramparts School in the town centre. Northgate School, Ipswich, has seen many thousands of pupils pass through its gates.

Some have become nationally and internationally known. Names like Trevor Nunn, film and theatre director; Nik Kershaw, singer and song writer; Brian Cant, BBC children’s television presenter; and Jane Lapotaire, actor.

The buildings in Sidegate Lane West, now Northgate High School, were previously Northgate Grammar School for Boys and Northgate Grammar School for Girls. The school buildings have altered greatly over the decades. In the late 1970s work started to add a sports centre on the site, which is now used by many sections of the community, with an eight lane athletics track, tennis courts, sports hall and gym.

Were you a pupil at either of the schools featured or are you in any of the photographs in today’s Days Gone By? To submit a letter, in less than 300 words, write to David Kindred, Days Gone By, Ipswich Star/EADT, Portman House, 120 Princes Street, Ipswich, IP1 1RS or e-mail info@kindred-spirit.co.uk

Who was this Northgate School pupil caring for a bird in 1977? Picture: JERRY TURNER

Grimwade’s shop on the Cornhill, Ipswich, featured in Days Gone By recently and readers have written with their memories.

Rachel Wells emailed in and said: “I started work at Grimwade’s in 1962, serving a five year apprenticeship in the tailoring department.

“The picture of the tailor/cutter was H. L. Reynolds.

“I think his name was Harold although we always called him Mr Reynolds.”

Rachel Wells has identified the tailor working at Grimwade’s Ipswich shop in 1963 as Mr H Reynolds Picture: KEITH FLETCHER

Dudley Diaper said: “My only visit to Grimwade’s was to buy a Royal Navy tie for my father’s birthday in the 1980s.

“Mention should be made of the unusual inwardly-curved shop window at Grimwade’s.

“It was designed to eliminate reflections from outside so that the items in the window could be seen more clearly.

“I believe the principle is called Total Internal Reflection (TIR). I wonder what happened to the window?”

Grimwade’s shop on the Cornhill, Ipswich, in 1957. The Cornhill was then on the trolley bus route through the town centre Picture: DAVID KINDRED ARCHIVE

A pottery class at Northgate School, Ipswich, in October 1977 Picture: JERRY TURNER

A lesson in the autumn sunshine at Northgate School, Ipswich, in October 1977 Picture: JERRY TURNER

Kipper ties and wide lapels were the fashion for a physics lesson at Northgate School, Ipswich, in 1977 Picture: JERRY TURNER

Girls using light meters and a reflex camera during a photography lesson at Northgate School, Ipswich, in 1977 Picture: JERRY TURNER

A carpentry class at Northgate School in 1977 Picture: JERRY TURNER

Northgate School, Ipswich, when they were separate boys and girls schools. This aerial view is from the 1930s when there were only a few houses in Sidegate Lane West Picture: DAVID KINDRED ARCHIVE

Girls during a lesson in preparing a meal at Stoke High School, Ipswich, in September 1977 Picture: JERRY TURNER

Boys at Stoke High School, Ipswich, at a metalwork lesson Picture: JERRY TURNER

A 16-year-old suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed in the car park of a McDonald’s restaurant in Ipswich during a violent fight in front of shocked members of the public, it has been alleged.

Author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz visited Woodbridge to give a talk at Seckford Hall about his life and works. We caught up with him to talk about his home in Orford, his love for Suffolk and how he plans to spend eternity in the county.